SUPPLIES OF VITAMINS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19826, 31 December 1938, Page 16

SUPPLIES OF VITAMINS

NEW SOURCES AVAILABLE

R ESEARCH DISCO VERGES

LONDON, Nov. 8

Leading scientists and industrialists meeting at Burlington House, Piccadilly, heard, for the first time, from research workers, of, a new process 'by which supplies of vitamins are being obtained in Britain from material which might otherwise he wasted.

They were lold also of the danger cf "night blindness" *mong motorists, caused through lack of vitamin "'A" in the normal diet.

The new process, which is said to offer great possibilities in numerous industries, was the subject of a conference arranged by the London Section and Chemical Engineering Group ef the Society of Chemical Industry. The paper was given by Mr. W. Jewel, Mr. T. H. Mead and Mr. J. W. Phipps, of British Drug Houses, who gave details of experiments made with Dr. F. H. Carr in London during the past eight years. Dr. R. Lessing presided.

The new process, it was explained, utilised a recently discovered phenomenon known as "molecular distillation," which had previously been possible only on a small scale in the laboratory. This form of distillation overcame the difficulty of concentration by boiling, which, even under greatly lowered pressures, largely destroyed the vitamins. In the new process the vitamins, instead of being 'boiled off from the original oils, were evaporated more slowly and at lower temperatures.

Danger to Motorists

The discovery made at no longer necessary to depend upon the limited supply of cod fish .and halibut for vitamin "A." Now the livers of most of the fish taken from the sea, instead of being wasted, could be used. Almost equally important was the fact that bv this method a highly purified substance, free from all unpalatable oily base, was now available. Production of vitamin "A" would be possible in such large quantities tint the whole population from birth upward--, might be provided with an essential vitamin for the maintenance of health.

On the importance of vitamin "A" in national diet, it was pointed out that one of the earliest symptoms of a deficiency was "night blindness •- diminished ability to see in dim light, or in dim light after exposure to dazzling light. Motorists suffering in his way might not only have subnormal vision at night, but be practically 1 "blind- after being exposed to the bright lights of an oncoming car. This might well be a contributory cause of accidents at night. .